UFO Observed during Thunderstorm in Picture Rocks, Pennsylvania

Picture Rocks, Pennsylvania - 08-28-14

I live in a very rural, mountainous, forested area of north central Pennsylvania. There were thunderstorms in the area but not directly overhead during the early evening.

As dusk approached I noticed a very white cloud formation to the southeast which did not appear to be very far from my home.

The formation was very thick and very white and remained stationary. It was so unique that a friend and I drove my four-wheeler to the top of the field for a better look.

As we were driving up through the field we noticed lightning occurring inside the cloud. When the lightning arcs were on our side of the cloud they were very clear.

When the arcs were on the other side of the cloud they were more obscured. We stopped at the top of the hill and watched the cloud for approximately 45 minutes.

The lightning kept occurring approximately every 2-4 minutes but did not make any noise like normal lightning. It was difficult to determine how far away the cloud was.

It appeared to be quite close but was probably a mile or so away. The top of the cloud was probably up to approximately 45 degrees above the horizon and I could not see where the bottom terminated. It was probably wide enough to cover approximately 30 horizontal degrees. Most of the sky was clear and blue except for that cloud which did not move.

As it became darker we could see stars and airplanes in the sky. Other than the cloud everything else was normal. At one point we noticed what looked like a star to the left (southeast) of the cloud. It was approximately 30 degrees above the horizon.

The "apparent" star was in fact moving in a westerly direction. At first I thought it was a satellite or perhaps a plane but there were no other lights.

It simply appeared to be a normal star. It began to move up and down then forward and backward. It continued this random pattern and slowly continued moving toward the cloud.

It entered the cloud and remained inside the cloud for approximately 4-5 minutes, continuing to move around in the same random pattern. Lightning was occurring inside the cloud while the object was there.

The lightning strikes did not appear as though they struck the object. The object then continued moving again in a westerly direction and exited the cloud. After a couple of minutes the object, which was continuing to move in random patterns, began to move back toward the cloud.

After another minute or so it again reversed direction back to a westerly direction. During the event we kept asking what can it be.

There were also airplanes in the sky so we were clearly able to look at a plane in comparison to the object.

As the object continued it rose slightly higher on the horizon and when it reached a point approximately 60-70 horizontal degrees (now in the SW sky) it became obscured by more clouds or haze.

This is really weird and probably not connected but at about the time the object was leaving our view a meteor flashed across the sky in the same area. WOW! What a night. This was one event that I will never forget.

While watching I had some concerns regarding abduction, but it never came close or caused any other alarm. After we lost sight we continued to look for it for about another half hour but it did not come back.

By this time it was dark and the white cloud was not visible until the internal lightning flashed and clearly laminated the cloud. At this point the cloud had been there flashing for approximately 1 1/2 hours. We returned to my house where I immediately took out a tablet and wrote down the details of this experience.

I did a tour in the US Army as an MP and was around various types of aircraft and there is no way any sort of conventional aircraft could maneuver the way that this object did.

At times the movement reminded me of perhaps a butterfly or maybe the old Pac Man game. I looked up St Elmo's fire and ball lightning and I don't think they were the cause. I realize this pales in comparison to some of the reports you receive but this made an indelible impression on both of us and I hope perhaps it can further your investigative research.

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